Book Review: Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

This review contains clearly marked spoilers

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over "breathers". Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody... and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.
As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad — and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance... (From Goodreads)

This book has been on my to-read list for quite a long time, so I was ecstatic when I won a copy from Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st century!

Cass is an outcast, and has been since middle school. Of course, it's hard to fit in when you can talk to ghosts, and get the dirt on all of your classmates. I suppose people might be nicer if she didn't use that dirt against said classmates, but where would the fun be in that. When the student council VP, Tim, starts paying attention to Cass, she's justified in her suspicions. Really, he just hopes that Cass can help him connect with his deceased mother, even though it may not help him move on emotionally.

Crewe did a great job with the ghost aspect of this book. Once it became clear that ghosts remain until they can accomplish some sort of unfinished business, I started to wonder why Cass's sister had returned as a ghost. I have my theories, but this issue isn't really resolved in the book.

This paragraph contains spoilers, so if you haven't read the book skip this paragraph!

As the book drew to a close I was really worried that Crewe was going to fall into the YA cliche of making the two main characters end up together, despite neither of them being in the right place emotionally for one. So, I was relieved when that didn't happen! It's obvious that the two care for each other, but Tim really needs to focus on some counseling to help him deal with the grief of losing his mother.

(end of spoilers)

Overall, I thought that this was a good paranormal, and a quick read. I haven't heard anything about a sequel, but I still have my fingers crossed. While this book wrapped up nicely, there's still more I'd like to read about.

Give Up the Ghost
By Megan Crewe
Published by Henry Holt and Co.
256 Pages
Rating: B